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Royal finances: Monarchy to receive £45m extra funding
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The monarchy will receive an extra £45 million due to the Crown Estate’s rising profits.
The increase in income comes from an increase in property profits due to six new offshore wind farms.
The Crown Estate’s profits have risen to £1.1 billion, which will in turn lead to an increase in the Sovereign Grant, which pays the Royal Family’s operating costs.
The grant will rise from £86.3 million in 2024/25 to £132 million in 2025/26, which will help pay for the final stages of the Buckingham Palace refurbishment, officials said.
The annual financial report also revealed the Royal Family’s plans to buy two new helicopters and that the Duke and Duchess’s former home, Frogmore Cottage, is still empty, a year after they left.
Last year, funding from the monarchy was reduced from 25% to 12% of the Crown Estate’s net profits due to increased expected income from offshore wind farms.
The Crown Estate is a real estate business owned by the monarch but managed independently.
The king wanted his profits to be used for the general public good.
Had the reduction not taken place, the monarchy would have received £275 million in 2025-2026.
But now the Sovereign Grant – based on funds two years in arrears – will be £132 million.
Legislation in 2026/27 will review the Royal Family’s funding to ensure it is maintained at a “more appropriate” level, a Palace spokesman said.
The Sovereign Grant pays for taxpayer-funded official visits and residences in exchange for the King giving up revenue from the Crown Estate.
Aircraft ‘key component’
The annual accounts — delayed by a month because of the general election — revealed the family would receive two new helicopters next year to replace the existing 15-year-old aircraft.
The report said they were “an essential component” in enabling the King and the Royal Family to fulfil engagements, allowing them to reach remote regions of the UK.
Graham Smith, chief executive of anti-monarchy group Republic, said: “We don’t owe the royals a living, we don’t owe them palatial homes, private helicopter rides or lives of leisure and luxury.”
Mr Smith added: “They abuse the taxpayer’s trust day in and day out, taking our money to spend on their own lifestyles.”
There have been a number of new greener measures, including the conversion of the king’s two state Bentleys to run on biofuel next year, part of a wider sustainability drive.
In the long term, the plan is to switch to a fleet of official electric cars.
There has also been work to increase the use of sustainable aviation fuel for real flights where possible.
But overall, emissions have increased.
There was a 3% reduction in natural gas and heating emissions in Royal Estates, although total greenhouse gas emissions increased slightly from the previous year.
This was largely due to the increase in business travel.
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Image caption: Buckingham Palace’s annual accounts were published on Wednesday
Charles has campaigned on climate issues for decades and the accounts – from the first full financial year of his reign – indicate he is determined to do things differently.
Windsor Castle will be fitted with solar panels for the first time, while Buckingham Palace’s gas lamps are being retrofitted with specially designed electrical fittings to improve their energy efficiency while retaining their historic appearance and sparkle.
Sir Michael Stevens, Keeper of the Privy Purse, said the environmental initiatives were “driven by a determination to put sustainability at the heart of our operations and inspired by Her Majesty’s leadership in this sphere”.
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Image caption: Buckingham Palace is undergoing a 10-year renovation
On the 10-year, £369 million Buckingham Palace project, a separate report by the National Audit Office (NAO) concluded on Tuesday that the renovation work had been well managed overall, but warned that structural damage and the discovery of asbestos, which led to cost increases, “could have been foreseen”.
He said 82 percent of operational improvements have been completed.
Palace officials also revealed there were no new tenants at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s former home, Frogmore Cottage.
The Grade II listed Crown Estate property at Windsor Home Park is still empty, more than a year after they officially left.
‘Rapidly changing circumstances’
The period covered by the accounts – 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 – shows that £600,000 of the Sovereign Grant was spent on the coronation and events surrounding it last year, with a total cost to the Sovereign Grant of £800,000.
But the figures also cover the period after the King and Princess of Wales were diagnosed with cancer.
Sir Michael said the temporary withdrawal of public facing duties inevitably affected the number and nature of engagements that took place.
But he added: “But I must say how encouraging it is to see the King back performing so many public duties and, more recently, the Princess equally well enough to take part in the King’s Birthday Parade and the Wimbledon men’s final.”
There were more than 2,300 official engagements by members of the Royal Family in the UK and abroad, compared with more than 2,700 last year.
Charles made 464 official appearances despite his cancer diagnosis.
The most expensive of these was his state visit to Kenya, which cost £167,000.